Thousands of students march in London against education cuts

Thousands of students marched in central London today, Wednesday, to protest against the coalition attacks on education. The demonstration, which began at Temple, saw students from across Britain take apart.

Many brought banners and wore scarves in solidarity with Palestine. Hundreds joined the Global Intifada block which carried Palestinian flags and chanted “London, Cairo, Tunis, Gaza—globalise the intifada!”

Dom, a student from Birmingham university, said, “We got a good turnout from Birmingham, but we need to do more. I think we have to fight against every cut on campus and build the movement that way.”

The march route was heavily criticised as the National Union of Students (NUS) had agreed with police that students would not march past the Houses of Parliament. At one point students tried to break through police cordons and march towards Parliament Square.

Annika Brown, a student at the College of North East London, said, “The policing is far too heavy. We should be able to march past so the MPs hear what we have to say. We need to build the numbers back up so we can push past next time.”

Students are now gearing up to campaign on campus next term. NUS has called a day of action over education cuts on 5 December. Jamie Woodcock from the NUS national executive said, “We want that to be a day when students and trade unionists come together against the budget.”